Organization Culture

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------How would you respond to a statement, Understanding of organization culture is not important as far as managers are concerned? Discuss. I strongly disagree with the statement Understanding of organization culture is not important as far as managers are concerned. Every human being has certain personality traits which help them stand apart from the crowd. No two individuals behave in a similar way. In the same way organizations have certain values, policies, rules and guidelines which help them create an image of their own. Organization culture refers to the beliefs and principles of a particular organization. The culture followed by the organization has a deep impact on the employees and their relationship amongst themselves. Every organization has a unique culture making it different from the other and giving it a sense of direction. It is essential for the employees to understand the culture of their workplace to adjust well. An organizations culture may be one of its strongest assets or its biggest liability. In fact, it has been argued that organizations that have a rare and hard-to-imitate culture enjoy a competitive advantage. In a survey conducted by the management consulting firm Bain & Company in 2007 worldwide business leaders identified corporate culture to be as important as corporate strategy for business success. This comes as no surprise to leaders of successful businesses, who are quick to attribute their companys success to their organizations culture. Culture, or shared values within the organization, may be related to increased performance Researchers found a relationship between organizational cultures and company performance, with respect to success indicators such as revenues, sales volume, market share, and stock prices. At the same time, it is important to have a culture that fits with the demands of the companys environment. To the extent that shared values are proper for the company in question, company performance may benefit from culture. For example, if a company is in the high-tech industry, having a culture that encourages innovativeness and adaptability will support its performance. However, if a company in the same industry has a culture characterized by stability, a high respect for tradition, and a strong preference for upholding rules and procedures, the company may suffer because of its culture. In other words, just as having the right culture may be a competitive advantage for an organization, having the wrong culture may lead to performance difficulties, may be responsible for organizational failure, and may act as a barrier preventing the company from changing and taking risks.

Organization Culture
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In addition to having implications for organizational performance, organizational culture is an effective control mechanism dictating employee behavior. Culture is a more powerful way of controlling and managing employee behaviors than organizational rules and regulations. For example, when a company is trying to improve the quality of its customer service, rules may not be helpful, particularly when the problems customers present are unique. Instead, creating a culture of customer service may achieve better results by encouraging employees to think like customers, knowing that the company priorities in this case are clear: Keeping the customer happy is preferable to other concerns, such as saving the cost of a refund. Therefore, the ability to understand and influence organizational culture is an important item for managers to have in their tool kit when they are carrying out their controlling P-O-L-C function as well as their functions. Thus, I would rather say Understanding of culture is very important as far as managers are concerned. Because managers are responsible for how they lead the organization. I would rather say Understanding of culture is very important as far as managers are concerned. The evidences presented from the literature, international studies suggest that culture is indeed something that managers should pay attention to. How would you define Organization culture? Describe its various manifestations. Using this framework describe the culture of your current classroom? Organizational culture refers to a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that show people what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. These values have a strong influence on employee behavior as well as organizational performance. Organizational culture is the set of shared, taken-for-granted implicit assumptions that a group holds and that determines how it perceives, thinks about, and reacts to its various environments. This definition highlights three important characteristics of organizational culture. First; organizational culture is passed on to new employees through the process of socialization. Second, organizational cultures influence our behavior to work. Finally, organizational culture operates at different levels. Organizational cultures are shaped by four key components: the founders values, the industry and business environment, the national culture, and the senior leaders vision and behavior. In turn, organizational culture influences the type organizational structure adopted by a company and a host of practices, policies and procedures implemented in pursuit of organizational goals. These organizational characteristics then affect a variety of group and social process. This sequence ultimately affects employees attitudes and behavior and a variety of organizational outcomes. Organizational culture is a

Organization Culture
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------contextual variable influencing individual, group, and organizational behavior. The various manifestations of organization culture according to Robert A. Cooke are:

Constructive cultures, in which members are encouraged to interact with people and approach tasks in ways that help them, meet their higher-order satisfaction needs. The four constructive cultural norms are achievement, self-actualization, humanistic encouraging and affiliative. Passive/defensive cultures, in which members believe they must interact with people in ways that will not threaten their own security. The four passive/defensive cultural norms are approval, conventional, dependent and avoidance. Aggressive/defensive cultures, in which members are expected to approach tasks in forceful ways to protect their status and security. The aggressive/defensive cultural norms include oppositional norm, power norm, competitive norm, perfectionistic norm.